KELOWNA, B.C. – The No. 6-ranked UBC Thunderbirds came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the host UBC Okanagan Heat Saturday night in Kelowna, B.C.
 
At the end of the Canada West men's volleyball matchup, the visiting T-Birds triumphed with set scores of 20-25, 18-25, 25-16, 25-12, 15-13. 
 
This loss for the Heat drops their record to (3-15) and bumps the 'Birds' record to (12-6).
 
The Thunderbirds were led by Irvan Brar (Surrey, B.C.) with 18 kills on 37 swings (.237) and 15 digs. Mat Guidi (Coquitlam, B.C.) had 10 kills and nine digs and Byron Keturakis (Surrey, B.C.) offered seven kills and 14 digs, while recording a team-best 33 assists.
 
Alex Swiatlowski led the Heat, following up yesterday's career high of 23 kills, with 16 (.250) and 10 digs. Lars Bornemann also contributed with 12 kills (.154) and rookie El Risso chipped in with 15 digs.
 
The fifth set started off with exciting rallies as the Heat and Thunderbirds battled back and forth. An ace by Brar capped off a run of three straight points that put UBC up 5-3. Three straight UBCO kills returned the lead to the home side at 6-5.
 
An Alex Russell (Surrey, B.C.) kill and a Lars Bornemann attack error gave the T-Birds an 11-8 advantage. The hosts eventually earned ties at 12-12 and 13-13, before Joel Regehr (Courtenay, B.C.) and Guidi knocked down kills to end the match.
 
The first set started off highly contested as both teams went point for point until a kill by Kristof Schlagintweit pushed the Heat into a 10-5 run to go ahead 19-12. This momentum kept the Heat ahead and an error by the T-Birds resulted in a 25-20 win.
 
The second set started off slow, however, the Heat established a significant lead 18-12, prompting a UBC timeout.  The Thunderbirds gained no momentum from this, and the Heat successfully finished the set 25-18.
 
UBC turned the match around, and established a strong 11-5 lead, which resulted in a 25-16 win. The team finished with a 6-1 run.  
 
The Thunderbirds then carried this momentum into the fourth set, winning 21 of the first 31 points (21-10), before a kill by Milan Nikic (Calgary) secured a 25-12 finish over the Heat.  
 
UBC will return home to face another BC rival, the Thompson Rivers WolfPack, this Friday and Saturday at War Memorial Gymnasium. The Blue and Gold will hit the historic court Friday night (Feb. 5) at 6 p.m.
 
The Heat will be continuing their season on the road as they head to Langley to play Trinity Western (Feb. 5). Game time is at 8 p.m.